UC is a member of SmartTravel, a local government-supported car pooling website offering a fee and secure service to help you find car pool matches.
By joining SmartTravel, you access the largest secure carpooling database in Christchurch. SmartTravel is easy to join and find matches with others who share a similar journey. You can also use this database for one-off journeys outside of the Ōtautahi-Christchurch and Waitaha-Canterbury region - even across the whole country! When you register choose University of Canterbury as your employer (for staff) or college for students.
If you have any questions or need any help email letscarpool@ccc.govt.nz.
Reasons to carpool
Carpooling to work has a lot of benefits. First widely used in the oil-shock 70's, carpooling is back as a social and practical way to reduce costs and emissions when travelling by car.
It helps your environment, your economy, your community, and even better it helps you personally to enjoy your commute, travel faster, easier, and save thousands of dollars every year. Want to know more? Here are eight great reasons to give carpooling a go!
1. Save money on petrol
No one likes to pay for petrol. If you share your petrol bill with just one passenger, then you'll save 50%. That’s a 50% saving on your petrol bill, every time you fill up.
2. Save money on parking, maintenance, insurance
You car costs you more than just petrol. You also pay for parking, tolls, insurance, repairs, maintenance and even worse your car will eventually depreciate until it's worthless. If you carpool you can reduce all of these costs too.
3. De-stress
Driving can be stressful. It requires your concentration for hours at a time, but if you carpool then you don't have to drive as often. A University of California study shows you are likely to have lower blood pressure if you carpool: That's a fact!
4. Do more with your time
Driving every day is a waste of your time. Wouldn't you rather be enjoying a conversation, or reading a book? If you carpool you will have more time for those things that you'd rather be doing: You can do them from the passenger seat.
5. Get to know your workmates
Setting up a carpool can help you meet your workmates. You get to meet and talk with other great people from your team, every day. You can turn down that radio and bring a little fun and conversation to your morning drive.
6. Make our community more livable
More cars mean more congestion, and fewer car parks for everyone. It means more traffic noise and pollution around our area. If you carpool then you're helping to improve our community for everyone, including yourself.
7. Support our local economy
90% of the money you spend on petrol goes off shore. Why not support local businesses instead? If you save money by carpooling, you will have more money to spend locally to support the people and area you care about.
8. Support our environment
For most people driving is the single biggest contributor to their carbon footprint. This means that cutting down on driving is the biggest action you can take to make your life more sustainable. If your carpool has one passenger, in an average car, on an average commute, you'll avoid 3.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year! Carpooling can make a real difference.
You don't have to carpool every day. Even a few days a week reduces cost and emissions. From driving safely to being on time, check out our carpooling tips and FAQs.
My schedule is really hectic. How could I possibly sort out carpooling?
First of all, you don’t have to carpool five days a week. You can arrange to carpool as many or as few days a week as you like. It’s up to you.
But what if…
Be the designated driver of your carpool.
Establish rules before you carpool to avoid problems in the long run. Also, you can always carpool on a trial basis before making a commitment.
You could plan activities on specific days and then car pool the rest of the time. Sharing a ride for just two or three days a week still saves you some petrol and helps the environment.
The unexpected is bound to come up and you should have a plan arranged in advance with your carpool members. You’d be surprised at how flexible people can be. Each person should specify how they want to be contacted at home, work, or their mobile phone with regards to emergency carpool changes. Have a contingency plan that will get you to work or home if your carpool leaves without you.
No problem. Join a carpool that doesn’t need a driver and pay your share of the petrol.
Tips for setting up a car-pool
Just like screening potential flatmates, you need to consider what factors are important to your carpool. Here are some general tips for contacting potential car-pool partners and setting up your carpool:
- Get comfortable. Talk on the phone or arrange to meet beforehand somewhere to interview the potential carpool partners – bring a friend along for company if you’d like.
- Agree on the little things: smoking/non-smoking, food and drinks okay or not, radio on or off (and what stations); raise any other personal annoyances (e.g., use of mobile phones, passengers reading/doing paperwork).
- Decide who will drive or what days each of you will drive if sharing driving responsibility.
- When will you meet: set a timeframe and decide what to do if people are late.
- Where will you meet: arrange drop-off and pick-up points at home or wherever is comfortable (if you don’t want your carpool knowing your home address, use a nearby corner for your pick-up).
- Cost: if driving isn’t equally shared, decide how petrol and parking costs will be shared.
- Decide how to deal with the unpredictable: for example, illness, over-sleeping, mechanical problems. Decide ahead of time how to handle such situations. Decide who is notified if someone is ill, and establish how each carpool member wants to be contacted in such emergencies (e.g., work, home or cell-phone number, or email). If one of your carpool partners makes a carpool late, agree early on how long drivers should wait at each stop. Have a back-up plan for yourself if your carpool ride must leave without you (leaving you either at home or on campus).
Once you have formed your carpool group, here are some general tips for the smooth running of the carpool
- Be on time, whether driving or being picked up. If you can't make it, call in PLENTY of time for others in the carpool to make other arrangements.
- If you are driving, make sure you have plenty of fuel in the tank and that your car is running well and is clean. No one wants extra stops on the way.
- Don't make or request detours, e.g., for the morning paper or other errands.
- Be considerate when it comes to your own habits and tolerant of others.
- Your car insurance cover is not affected by carpooling.
- Importantly if you are driving, drive safely. You are responsible for the lives of others.
